my own misery

warm up= rope 3x90 with hard last 10

MAIN SET

5 rounds of 10 reps

KB swings (52lbs)

shoulder press (30)

bent lat raide (10)

Split squat

rope 3x120

2nd Round

4rounds 10 pull ups

15 Burpess

Abs= 4 way planks 4x30 secs each

Back at the GYM!

warm up 4 x 500 = row

main set= 7 UPs for 7 rounds timed

7 pull ups

7 burpess

7 thrusters

7 dips

7 push ups

7 knees to elbows

1 min jump rope

Abs= exercise ball= 4 way abs x10

FIRMman Race Report

4:44:20 = Finish Time

I have been planning to do this race all summer. I registered in June and felt that I would try to do a half at the end of the year. This race was the first Half that I have ever done back in 2005 and felt that 5 years later I would go back and see what I could do. Leading up to the race I completed in 10 other triathlons this summer. They were all sprint distance and can feel confident in saying I accomplished my goals with all of them. The last 4 weeks have been tough. I started to suffer from some burnout and overtraining and my body began to feel it. With that I sought the advice of some good friends and professionals in coaching and physical therapy. April Bowling of Tri Life coaching and Sara Thatcher of Bodytuning helped square me away. I have never been coached before and always kind of "winged" it when it came to my training plan. Once I spoke with April I think she was a bit bewildered and put a very scientific but accurate schedule together for me to help me taper and heal my injuries prior to racing. I can say that it made a huge difference in showing me how to get my workouts in and feel overburdened in doing them. Magic hands Sara Thatcher helped get my body back into alignment and felt how much of a difference it made as race day came on.

09/11/10

Narragansett RI.

Going into the race was kind of a downer because my brother was supposed to do it with me. Because of bike accident he had back in July he had been sidelined and was unable to join me. We planned on bringing our families down and enjoying the atmosphere. Unfortunately I would go at it on my own. It is good to say that he is on the mend and will be ready to go for next year. I checked into my hotel at 5:30 pm and got settled. I watched Notre Dame blow what could have been a great victory and then headed over to meet Dr Dave Kilroy and his family for a pasta dinner his wife Maureen had made. Dave and some of his friends were doing the relay. So after a glass of wine and two plates of pasta I decided to retire back to my room. I was able to talk to Lynn and say our good nights. I was really missing her and the boys. I out together my race bag and got my bike in order and did a little light reading. Decent sleep and up at

4AM.

09/12/10

I had a good morning, two bagels and a powerbar and a gatorade. I was feeling pretty good. I had no symptoms of my calf injury and felt confident that I was more than ready for this day. I went to my car and the air was muggy, and windy. I was hoping that the wind would die down but not a chance. Went to check in and when I got my stuff I was told that I was put into the elite/pro wave. I had been racing in the elite category this summer in the sprint distance but going there in a endurance event was a big leap. These other E/P's are 40-50 lbs lighter that me and that makes a huge difference. I got set up and went to my rack, #5. There was a good group of elites and pro's today, I think 10 men. There was a large contingent of team Fuel Belt. It was nice to see another guy I know Dave Lamoureaux. I know him from when I raced with Aquaphor. He is an incredible athlete and runner. I put on my wetsuit and made the one mile walk down the beach to the start.

1.2 mile Swim : 28:44

The water was nice but the surf was big. There was some big waves you had to climb through as you went to the first turn buoy. Once I got there I was able to get clear of some people and head off on my own. I sighted well, in fact I got every buoy that was in the water . I felt really good and there wasn't much to worry about until you got to the last turn buoy. There was a fair amount of waves and you could feel them push you towards shore but I didn't think it because I felt strong in the swim it didn't bother me. At that last turn buoy you really felt the current and what I didn't realize was that you had to make a sharp right turn to get back to the beach. Here the waves were a bit higher than before and I just let them bring me in. I was only about 75 yards off line when I got on shore and made up that time in T1. I got to the wetsuit strippers and was on my bike in 50 secs. By far my fastest T1 ever.

56 mile Bike: 2:35:00

After the swim I thought I was going to have a great race. As we made our way out of town the conditions were pretty good. I was hoping to hold around 220-230 on my power meter. I was doing a great job and new that I was where I wanted to be. Once we hit route 1 the wind punched us in the face. It was pretty steady and made a difference. I instantly saw my power rise and speed drop. I kept telling myself to stay in control and not to push it. At around the 12 mile mark the course went off the highway and into a residential area. I was by myself, not catching anyone in front and no one was behind me. This was good and bad b/c I was doing a good job holding my numbers but I did not feel like I was racing, just on a training ride. This part of the course had a lot of hills. I forgot how many hills there were. I was able to keep on my nutrition of drinking every 10 min and gel every 45. On the return to route 1 I was coming down a long stretch of hill when I started to see everyone else heading out. There was a girl how took a pretty bad crash . I was able to stop for her to see if she was ok. She said she was fine and for me to go on. there was another guy there too. Just up the road was a support crew and I gave the word that she might need some help. At this point I was able to see a bike out in front of me, about a 1/4 mile and know we were back on route 1 and the wind was still there. Usually there is a tail wind on this part of the course but not today. I could feel my thighs burning and I was fading a little bit. I went to get a salt tab and realized I must have dropped them b/c they were no longer in my shorts. Not much I could do know but drink and drink some more. We finally got off the highway and I rolled into town. I thought I could have rode better. Tough wind conditions but everyone had to deal with them. T2 was smooth, and off I went on the run

13.1 mile run= 1:39:44

My feet were numb as I headed out on the run. Not sure why but I didn't have and affect on me too much. In fact I was running way too fast. I was wearing my polar foot pod so I could keep track of my pace. It said I was running about 6:05. I stopped for 5 seconds and told myself slow down. I was still by myself at this point and wanted to hold and a pace of 7:20 for the run. Well my first mile was 6:55. I then avg. 7:05 through mile 8. I was clipping away and feeling confident I could maintain this. As I passed mile 7 I saw the leader, Dave Lamoureaux approaching mile 10. He was flying and looked strong. we exchanged pleasantries and moved on. It was I then hit the 8 and was headed back to the finish. There were only two more big hills to climb and then on to the beach for the last 200 yards to the finish line. it was right at the mile 9 water stop that I got 2 cramps in my quads. They were big. It took a few secs to get them to relax and then was finally able to start running again. I was shuffling along and knew that if I got up the first hill I would be able to tough it out and stride into the finish. I was holding around 7:45's mixed with a stop here and there to squat and stretch my quads. I help pace with the overall female winner. It helped b/c she was great runner and encouraged me to stay with her. We finally hit the beach headed down to the hard sand to make it a little easier. I crossed the line and finished accomplishing my first goal. Finishing. Second goal was finish under 4:45.

Dave L . took the overall win with a time of 4:13. I quickly realized how much size comes into play when it comes to running this distance. I was pleased with the day as whole. It was fastest 13.1 split and my swim was right on. My bike was slower than I thought it should be. I think and bit more specific training would address that. I plan on taking some time this fall to reflect on the things that I can do to improve this winter. I had a great season and a proud of the way it ended. With the support of Fit Werx and the help of Tri Life and Bodytuning I was able to get the start line healthy and confident. I am a bit sore today and I a way it feels good because I know I earned it.

I can't express how much my family supported me this year, Lynn and the boys were more that amazing and it was appreciated. Thank You! Time to start planning for 2011!

Packing up

Well as many of my coaches have said the "hay is in the barn". I have put in all the work I could and today I feel the best I have in weeks. I got a solid night sleep and all those little aches an pains have begun to subside. It is amazing how much the taper plays with your mind. The funny thing is I considered myself to be immune from my own mental torture but as real as it gets, we are all human. I realized that there are only certain things that you can control the rest of it, you just trow up your hands roll the dice and hope your number lands.

Injury is something that can completely through a wrench in to all of it. I was lucky enough to have some great support. I have been very tense this week and before today I took a lot of frustration out on people that are close to me. My own fault. it all comes back to just riding the wave and letting everything fall into place and not let setbacks take over.

Thank you to all those who have put up with my crankiness, I owe you.